Marina del Rey man gets 12 years for ID thefts, credit card scam

LOS ANGELES - A Marina del Rey man was sentenced Monday to a dozen years in federal prison for running a $600,000 fraud scheme where he and his brother impersonated victims to obtain and use credit cards in their names.

"This is as deliberate and calculated a scheme as I've seen at trial recently," said U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess, who called Stewart a "fraud recidivist" with a long criminal history involving similar offenses.

"This is a case where a substantial period of time in custody is appropriate," the judge said.

Once the defendants received the cards, they made about $600,000 in illegal withdrawals and purchases, prosecutors said.

Feess said that in perpetrating the scheme, Johnny Stewart "smoothly and coolly" persuaded banks to send him replacement credit cards, causing"significant" harm to financial institutions and the people he impersonated.

Along with the prison term, Feess sentenced him to serve five years under supervised release after his release from jail, and ordered him to repay a share of $600,000 to the banks he defrauded.

Clayton Stewart, 46, of Bellflower pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, access device fraud and money laundering and will be sentenced May 20.

A third defendant, 47-year-old Dexter Alexander Hardy, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to 33 months in prison.